7 unmissable tips for the perfect tennis warm up

Having a good tennis warm up routine is a crucial part of preparing for your game - whatever level you play at. By setting aside just a few minutes to warm up before each match or training session, you’ll see some real benefits for your health and performance.

Now, you probably know that you should do a warmup before exercising, but many people don't have a specific routine for tennis. While any warm up is better than nothing, it is best to tailor your preparation to the specific demands of tennis.

In this blog, we're going to cover seven valuable tips for the perfect tennis warm up. Try to incorporate this routine into your pre-tennis preparation each time you play.

Benefits of a tennis warm up

Following a short tennis warm up routine before you play the sport will provide you with several benefits:

• Warming up is widely believed to reduce the risk of injury when playing any sport – and a meta study in one sports science journal confirms this. Read our Tennis Academy guide to tennis injury prevention

• Warming up for tennis gets your body prepared for the specific movements involved in this sport

• Warm ups also improve your overall performance; onestudy of tennis players found they played better when they did a proper warm up  

• Warming up also gets you in the head space to play tennis

How long should you dedicate to your tennis warm up?

Tennis coaches generally recommend you spend at least 10 to 15 minutes warming up before playing a tennis match. However, this might not always be possible - or even necessary - especially if you are playing fairly casually. All the same, you should aim for at least five or six minutes of warming up before you play tennis. Expert advice: ASICS Tennis Academy

7 best tennis warm up exercises

Here are seven unmissable tips for the perfect tennis warm-up which you can build into your pre-game routines. 

1. Gentle jog around the court

Tennis involves a lot of cardio exercise, so start your tennis warm up routine with a light jog around the tennis court and get your body moving.

Follow the lines around the full court and complete a couple of full circuits. You can mix things up by doing sprints along the doubles side-line, then slower jogging along the baseline.  

2. Jumping jacks

Jumping jacks are a fantastic full body warmup for tennis, since they get your arms and legs moving.

To do jumping jacks:

• Stand up straight with your hands by your side and your legs hip-width distance apart

• Jump into the air, swinging your feet out to land shoulder width distance apart

• As you jump, swing your arms up to touch above your head

• In a smooth motion, jump again so your feet come back to centre, and your arms to your sides

• Repeat this movement at least 20 times.

3. Knee lifts and butt kicks on the spot

This warm up is great for activating your leg muscles in preparation for the rapid back-and-forth footwork involved in tennis.

Begin by jogging on the spot then switch into 15 seconds of knee lifts (drive your knees up so your front thighs are parallel to the ground, alternating feet). Return to jogging on the spot for 15 seconds, before shifting into 15 seconds of butt kicks (flick your lower legs up behind you and alternate between the legs as quickly as you can for 15 seconds). Repeat this process two or three times. More tennis tips: Tennis training drills off the court

4. Arm and shoulder circles

Tennis exerts a lot of strain on your arms and shoulders – whether you’re serving or reaching for shots. Arm circles are therefore a great exercise to get these parts of your body warmed up and ready for action.

To perform an arm circle for tennis, stand facing forward and simply swing your arms forward in a circular loop forward 10 times. Then perform the same motion swinging your arms backwards.

5. Walking lunge

Walking lunges are a great tennis warmup because they mirror many of the common movements involved in the sport. To do a walking lunge, simply step forward with one leg, bending at the knee. Then step up, bringing the back foot beside the front foot. Then lung forward with that foot and repeat the process five times with each leg. 

To alternate here, you can incorporate twists of your upper body to the left and right mid-lunge, as well as doing backward lunges.

6. Shadowing

By now, your body will be well warmed up, so it’s time for shadowing.

Grab your racquet and spend a couple of minutes performing tennis movements, but without using a ball. Perform a range of movements, including serves, forehand and backhand swings, and slams. The point here is to get your body ready for tennis movements, but without the full strain of hitting a ball.

7. Mini tennis

The final stage of your perfect tennis warm up routine is to play mini tennis with your partner. In mini tennis, you both stand in the front half of the court (inside the service boxes), and simply play some gentle shots over the net.

The purpose of mini tennis is to get your eye in, and make tennis movements without the full physicality of serving from the baseline. Improve your game: Read our guide to tennis drills

Use the best tennis warm up exercises

A good tennis warm up will engage the full range of muscles you need to call on when playing tennis. This means you'll be well prepared for the requirements of the game, reduce the risk of injuries, and can perform at your best.

Once you start following a tennis warm up routine, it will soon become second nature. You can then begin mixing it up with other kinds of warm ups and stretches depending on your specific needs. 

Correct equipment is just as important as a good warm up. Make sure you’ve got the right tennis clothing and appropriate tennis shoes for women or men.